Cyclone Pam hammers Vanuatu ^Featured

Some news media are reporting gusts of up to 330 kilometres an hour and it is reported to be the strongest storm globally since 2013.etservice says it is the worst Pacific storm since cyclone Zoe in 2003.
The gales extend up to 380 kilometres from the centre of the storm - slightly longer than the distance between Wellington and Taupo. Humanitarian agencies said the storm was as severe as they feared but attempts to contact people on outlying islands were being hampered by communications lines being down.

The UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs its Pacific team is preparing to support the government-led response to the cyclone. The UN's regional director Sune Gudnitz, who is in Fiji, said the immediate concern was that there will be a very high death toll in Vanuatu but also an enormous amount of destruction and devastation.

The centre of the cyclone is now about 30 kilometres to the east of Port Vila as it moves south southeast. Residents in the capital are already reporting powerful winds and rough seas. The Vanuatu Meteorological Service is forecasting very destructive hurricane-force winds as the storm moves past in the next six-to-12 hours.

It also warned of torrential rain, flash flooding and huge storm surges. Unicef spokesperson Alice Clements said the storm had gone on far longer than any one expected and it was terrifying. "I stayed in a concrete hotel that was three storeys high, and even so I'd lost the sliding doors from my room, I had all the wind howling through the room."

She said the wind was still incredibly strong, but not as strong as it was at midnight (local time). "It was 15-30minutes of absolute terror for everybody in this country." She said there had already been reports of some deaths. "We have some very unconfirmed reports of casualties from the outer islands as well but we're waiting to get official confirmation on those, which is very sad news if it's true."

Up to 4000 people across Vanuatu have taken refuge in shelters like concrete churches and schools. Expat New Zealander, Jeff Brown who has been sheltering in a concrete motel on the outskirts of Port Vila, said the roof ripped off his family's unit overnight, and forced them to flee.

Mr Brown said the worst of the storm had now passed, but at its height early this morning, the sound of the wind and rain was like very loud white noise. "My house - I built it myself - I'm not sure it will withstand the force of the wind that is going to come, so we've moved into a motel in town which is a concrete structure."

Mr Brown said he could now see outside and the area around the motel is "one hell of a mess", with debris everywhere. He said the motel was sheltered against a bank and others in lighter accommodation will have lost everything.

Metservice meteorologist Peter Little said it was impossible to guess how long the storm would continue to batter Vanuatu, but it was huge and had become so tightly wound that it will take many hours to unwind.
"At the moment it's moving southward over the island of Erromango and it's a very, very intense system, the eye is still very visible. "So the wind near the centre likely to be about 250 kilometres and hour." The latest mean sea level pressure chart as Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu.

Mr Little said the storm was sending out huge wave surges in all directions which will travel a significant distance and affect several other countries, including New Zealand. A spokesperson for the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office said Pam is expected to be worse than Cyclone Uma in 1987 - which killed 50 people.

A state of emergency has been declared in Tuvalu after tidal surges caused by Cyclone Pam to the southwest washed away houses and crops.Images below show the devastating effects caused by Cyclone Pam.

Source: Radio New Zealand